Can't connect to Win7 share from Android, but fine from other Windows machines

[itm]

I have several shares defined on my Windows 7 desktop which are accessible from all other Windows 7 machines on my network. Until recently those shares were all accessible from my Android devices using ES File Explorer (Nexus 10, Nexus 7, Galaxy S4). Today I get this error when I try to connect to any of these shares from ANY of my Android devices:
Login fails. This may be caused by:
- WLAN is off
- SMB Server is out of network scope
- The IP is invalid
- Blocked by the firewall
- SMB service is off.

I connect to the server using my usual id/password (which is an Admin account, and has full access to the shares). All of the shares are listed correctly, but I get the error above when I try to connect to them.

Up to now I have been connecting to these same shares without any problems, using the IP address and my login credentials. I even tried creating a brand new share, will full access permissions granted for my user id. This share is also listed in ES File Explorer, but once again I get the error above if I try to connect to it.

I also have a Windows 2008 Server on my network. The Android devices have no problems accessing the shares on that machine. It's just this one Windows 7 machine that is the problem (but only for Android devices - other desktops on the LAN can access the shares no problem.

Any ideas??

 

[Urumiko]

hmm.. It might be worth seeing if you've had any windows updates come through recently/system restore?
Are you running a firewall?
Are your advanced sharing options all in order? It might be worth turning all the security off and rolling it back on bit by bit.

 

[itm]

No Windows updates on the machine in question - I have auto updates turned off. The Windows firewall is turned off, and there are no third party firewalls installed. I use AVG antivirus (free edition). Have tried disabling that but it made no difference.
It's odd that the problem only lies with Android devices (using ES File Explorer) - other Windows machines have no problem accessing the shares. Maybe an update to ES File Explorer broke things?

 

[Urumiko]

Maybe an update to ES File Explorer broke things?

Quite possibly.. I'd try other software to rule it out.

 

[itm]

So I just installed a different Android SMB client (AndSMB) and it too can view the list of shares, but not open any of them. So it looks like a problem with Android rather than ES File Explorer. Strange that it affects 3 different Android devices (on different Android versions) but does not affect Windows-to-Windows file share access ???

 

[Urumiko]

weird. you could try going in to the advanced sharing settings on windows and rolling off layers of security etc to see if that helps... it has to.

 

[itm]

Thanks. I've reduced these settings to their most open settings (for both home and public), including disabling password-protected sharing, but it made no difference :0(

 

[amk-aka-Phantom]

Since I keep having the same problem and can't seem to find a solution anywhere online, I'll add a dirty workaround: reboot your Windows file server. All your Android devices will immediately be able to connect again... for a time being. For me it usually lasts 1-2 days. Then SOMETHING happens - obviously on the Windows side, and it's again "login fails" from all Androids with ES, yet Windows machines keep being able to access all the shares. The only thing I've found that works is to reboot the machine with the shares. It's unfortunate that so many people seem to experience this issue yet no one has discovered what causes it or how to fix it.

 

[itm]

Since I keep having the same problem and can't seem to find a solution anywhere online, I'll add a dirty workaround: reboot your Windows file server. All your Android devices will immediately be able to connect again... for a time being. For me it usually lasts 1-2 days. Then SOMETHING happens - obviously on the Windows side, and it's again "login fails" from all Androids with ES, yet Windows machines keep being able to access all the shares. The only thing I've found that works is to reboot the machine with the shares. It's unfortunate that so many people seem to experience this issue yet no one has discovered what causes it or how to fix it.

The reboot solution doesn't work for me - the shares are locked out to Android even immediately after the PC is rebooted :0(

 

[amk-aka-Phantom]

Oh, hi there! It's a pity you are still having this issue. I have found an interesting post out on the net though that might help you: http://superuser.com/questions/605452/connect-from-android-es-file-explorer-to-windows-7-share which suggests to enable NetBIOS via IPv4 in your NAS' network adapter settings and change two registry keys (however in the source article for the registry fix a comment suggest to only apply the second tweak to avoid slowing down the disks). So far of course it works, as usually after reboot, but I'll see if the issue comes back in a few days as usual or not.

If this does not work for you, perhaps the fault lies with your sharing settings instead. Can you take a screenshot of them and post it here?

EDIT: it's been over a week and I have not had to reboot my NAS again yet. Looks like the fix is working

 

[barleysinger]

which suggests to enable NetBIOS via IPv4 in your NAS' network adapter settings

I tried this and it made no difference whatsoever. I still cant get past the "ES File Explorer" Icon that shows my desktop machine. I never even get to see any share names. Other droids in the house can see all the shares on all machines. This one droid can see shares on one PC but not another.

 

[pgammelby]

I had the same problem and fixed it by reenabling the SMB protocol as described here:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2696547?

To enable or disable SMB protocols on an SMB Server that is runningWindows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Vista, or Windows Server 2008, use Windows PowerShell or Registry Editor.
(Search 'powershell', run it in administrator mode)
paste the following cmdlet into the powershell:

Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters" SMB2 -Type DWORD -Value 1 -Force

and hit enter.
Reboot.

Worked like a charm.

 

[silexa]

I have several shares defined on my Windows 7 desktop which are accessible from all other Windows 7 machines on my network. Until recently those shares were all accessible from my Android devices using ES File Explorer (Nexus 10, Nexus 7, Galaxy S4). Today I get this error when I try to connect to any of these shares from ANY of my Android devices:
Login fails. This may be caused by:
- WLAN is off
- SMB Server is out of network scope
- The IP is invalid
- Blocked by the firewall
- SMB service is off.

I connect to the server using my usual id/password (which is an Admin account, and has full access to the shares). All of the shares are listed correctly, but I get the error above when I try to connect to them.

Up to now I have been connecting to these same shares without any problems, using the IP address and my login credentials. I even tried creating a brand new share, will full access permissions granted for my user id. This share is also listed in ES File Explorer, but once again I get the error above if I try to connect to it.

I also have a Windows 2008 Server on my network. The Android devices have no problems accessing the shares on that machine. It's just this one Windows 7 machine that is the problem (but only for Android devices - other desktops on the LAN can access the shares no problem.

Any ideas??

Hello ...
If you still need help. What you have to do is the following:

"ON WINDOWS"
1) You have to activate the smb1 protocol, which windows 10 by default has disabled (also works for windows 7). To activate the smb1 protocol, download this regedit file; which you will execute as administrator: http://viwright.com/18276899/activatesmb1mega

2) Make sure you have shared resources correctly, so you can navigate from your android device.

"ANDROID DEVICE"
1) Download the apk es file explorer pro totally free for you: http://viwright.com/70Dx

2) Go to the configuration section lan, then press scan. Then choose your equipment when it is presented in the scan ... it will ask for username and password. In user place the username with which you login in windows and in the password, you put the key of your username to log in windows. And ready!! That's it, you'll have access to all the resources shared on that computer. You can copy, paste, move, create, etc ... within any resource.

The key to unzip the zips is: contraseña